BROOKLYN HEIGHTS — Canisius faced Saint Francis for the first time since 1983 on

Saturday. Frank Turner of the Golden Griffins wishes they had met a little more frequently,

perhaps.

Turner, a senior guard from Atlantic City, N.J., scored a career-high 27 points in leading

the Griffs (1-1) to their first win of the season, 79-69, at the Terriers' Pope Physical

Education Center.

It was a virtuoso all-around performance for Turner, who moved into 13th place on the

Canisius all-time scoring list with 1,295 points. He made 9 of 11 both from the field and the

line, pulled down six rebounds, had seven assists and four steals in 36 minutes.

Tomas Vazquez-Simmons hit a jump shot to snap a 32-all tie with 2:38 left in the first half

and Canisius led the rest of the way. Freshman Reggie Groves added a three-point baskest and

Canisius went into halftime with a 37-34 lead. Turner had 19 of his points in the half.

Turner had six points in a 9-3 run that boosted the Canisius lead to 50-40. A layup by

Julius Coles, who had nine of his 11 points in the second half, gave the Griffs their largest

lead, 14 points (61-47) with 8:44 left.

Canisius forced 19 turnovers and had 10 steals as it held the Terriers to 38.6 percent

shooting, 34.4 in the second half.

"We wanted to pressure the ball. I thought our guys really picked it up in the second

half," Canisius coach Tom Parrotta said. "With a team like Saint Francis, you don't want to

let one guy go off and beat you."

It was the earliest in the season Canisius has broken into the win column under Parrotta,

who is in his fourth season with the Griffs. The strong performance came after Tuesday's

disappointing performance in an 89-69 loss at Loyola (Ill.).

"It wasn't perfect," Parrotta said of the improved effort. "The guys realized the intensity

from practice needs to be brought to the game. They did that this afternoon."

Greg Logins had 13 points for Canisius while Vazquez-Simmons had 10 boards to lead the

Griffs to a 39-36 rebounding advantage.

Ricky Cadell had 22 points and Akeem Bennett had 21 for the Terriers, who fell to 0-3 with

losses to Brown and Boston College.

Canisius will play at UB on Tuesday before its first home game against Howard at 3:15 p.m.

on Saturday.